Redlands Keeps Making Its Points

The University of Redlands may not have the best men’s basketball team in the NCAA Division III, but it may very well be one of the most exciting.

The Bulldogs averaged 104.9 points last season to lead Division III in scoring for the second time in three seasons and they are second in the division this season with a 102.8 average.

They also lead the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with 117 three-point baskets and 326 three-point shots--an average of 29.6 attempts a game.

Redlands is Division III’s answer to run-and-gun Loyola Marymount.

The Bulldogs, however, have been a little more successful than their Division I counterpart, with a 9-2 record heading into the start of SCIAC play this week.

“We’ve been very entertaining to watch,” Coach Gary Smith said. “We haven’t always won but we’re always entertaining. Our practices can be a lot of fun to watch.”

That’s the way it has been at Redlands since the Bulldogs switched to the fast-pacedoffense before the 1988-89 season.

Although it is the offense that lights up the scoreboard, Smith says it is his team’s defense that makes the style successful.

“You can’t just do it with offense alone,” he said. “You have to create it with your defense.”

Smith said the offense’s success starts with solid half-court defense that causes turnovers.

Redlands is also fortunate to have three outstanding point guards, chief among them senior Brad Jaques, who can initiate the team’s fast break.

“Without a good point guard who has the right skills, you can’t play that way,” Smithsaid.

Another essential element, Smith said, is a good three-point shooting attack, and the Bulldogs are solid in that department with guards Jeff Sofro and Monte Pyle.

“We like to take as many three-point attempts as possible,” Smith said. “Our percentage is down this year, but we’re putting it up a lot.”

Despite his team’s success, the coach admits his is not a foolproof style.

“You’re going to shoot yourself into some games and shoot yourself out of some other games,” Smith said. “It lends itself to a lot of streaks and sometimes that’s hard for a coach to watch.”

It has helped that the Bulldogs have excellent scoring balance, four players averaging double figures. Sofro is averaging 15.5 points, center Brett Grebing 12.5, center David Purdy 10.9 and forward John Arnold 10.4.

“We’re more balanced than we were in the past,” Smith said. “(The system) has created a high degree of balance this season.”

Smith is hoping that will help spark the Bulldogs to a conference championship. They last won the SCIAC title in 1989-90.

With top teams such as La Verne and Claremont-Mudd in the conference, Smith isn’t about to make any predictions.

But there is no doubt in his mind which team in the SCIAC will be the most exciting.

It was a boost for NCAA Division III men’s basketball on the West Coast when six SCIAC schools played host to five schools from the Little East Conference in a series of games last week.

Both the SCIAC and the Little East receive automatic bids to the Division III playoffs. But East Coast teams seem to carry more clout in the eyes of the Division III playoff selection committee.

So the SCIAC might have strengthened its reputation by going 11-4 in the series. Leading the way were La Verne and Claremont-Mudd, both 3-0, and Redlands, 2-0.

The best-showing Little East team was Southeastern Massachusetts, which suffered its only loss in three games to La Verne. The Massachusetts school, regarded as the top team in the conference, won 23 games and reached the Division III playoffs last season.

The four other teams that competed in the series were Eastern Connecticut State, Plymouth State of New Hampshire, Rhode Island College and Massachusetts Boston.

The Cal State San Bernardino basketball program has been jolted with the announcement that two men and one woman are academically ineligible.

Junior forward Marcus Nash and freshman forward Ed Forney will miss the rest of the season because of academic problems, and junior forward Kim Hansen was forced to sit out San Bernardino’s last two games.

Nash was a starter for the Coyotes and Forney a reserve. Nash ranks among the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. leaders with a 13.6-point scoring average and 65.8% field-goal shooting.

Hansen averages 10.4 points as a starter on the women’s team. Athletic Director David Suenram said she could be reinstated as early as this week.

“Her eligibility may or may not be restored (after) that period,” he said. “It is her responsibility to strengthen her academic performance and regain her eligibility to play basketball.”

College Division Notes

Cal State Northridge’s football team has added two NCAA Division I transfers to its roster for next season. The Matadors have landed running back Jamal Farmer from the University of Hawaii and offensive tackle Charlie Williams from Houston. Farmer was named Western Athletic Conference freshman of the year in 1989 and led Hawaii in rushing in 1989 and 1990. Williams alternated at left tackle for Houston last season after earning JC All-American honors at Cerritos College in 1990. . . . Two players from the SCIAC have been named to the Champion NCAA Division III All-American football team. La Verne quarterback Willie Reyna, who led Division III in total offense, made the first team and punter Sean McQuown of Claremont-Mudd was named to the third team. Running back Curt Landreth of Redlands, wide receiver Rod Zerbel of La Verne and kicker Michael Cass and returner Nate Kirtman of Pomona-Pitzer all received honorable mention.

Chris Eppright, a former All-West Coast Conference player at Santa Clara and coach at Pomona-Pitzer last season, has been named interim coach of the men’s and women’s tennis teams at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Eppright, 24, coached Pomona to ninth place in the NCAA Division III nationals last season. He replaces Kevin Platt, who resigned to coach the women’s team at Arkansas. . . . UC Riverside was the only CCAA school listed in the first regular-season NCAA Division II men’s basketball rankings last week. The Highlanders (13-1) were ranked 18th.

The Cal Poly San Luis Obispo men’s basketball team, off to one of its best starts, ended its six-game win streak in a 112-101 CCAA loss to Cal Poly Pomona on Saturday. San Luis Obispo is 13-2. . . . The Cal State Dominguez Hills women’s basketball team opened CCAA play with two victories for the first time last week. The Toros, who defeated Chapman and Cal State San Bernardino, are 10-7 overall.